Basketball: Grayson among top 10 surprises

Grayson had never won a state-playoff game in boys basketball. Wheeler had won 58, including five last season in route to a sixth state championship since 1994.

Grayson coach Geoffrey Pierce believed his team could make history, he said, ‘’as long as when we walked in we weren’t intimidated by their banners. Just don’t get intimidated by what they’ve done in the past. Everybody is 0-0 now.’’

Make that 2-0 for Grayson after victories over No. 1-ranked Wheeler and Lee County.

Grayson is one of five fourth-place teams among the 80 in Class AA through AAAAAA that made the quarterfinals set for Thursday and Friday at several college venues around the state. (Class A, which employs a different seeding system, also resumes with elite-eight games.)

Here are the 10 most surprising boys and girls results through the first two rounds.

BOYS

1. As stunning as Wheeler’s loss was, it maintained a trend. The only defending boys champion in the highest classification that has survived the first round in the past five years is Norcross in 2014. Tift County lost in the first round last year to Newton. Norcross in 2012 lost to Berkmar, and Milton in 2013 was banned from post-season.

2. Just three days after No. 1 Wheeler lost to Grayson, No. 2 Tift County also took a seat, falling 56-54 by unranked Milton, the runner-up to Wheeler in Region 5-AAAAAA. Milton won on a 3-point shot in the final second by sophomore Justin Brown, who was falling out of bounds as he hoisted the game-winner.

3. Region 4-AAAA, which had three top-10 teams, is bordering on extinction. No. 1-ranked Jonesboro, the defending champion, squeaked by unranked Carrollton 51-50 on Saturday. In the first round, No. 5 Eagle’s Landing was routed at unranked Bainbridge 80-49, and No. 7 Walnut Grove was blown out 71-45 at home by No. 9 Monroe of Albany.

4. Region 5-A also proved overrated last week. The region champion, Greenforest Christian, is ranked No. 1 and remains heavily favored in the private division, but No. 5 Our Lady of Mercy and No. 6 Southwest Atlanta Christian each lost on their home courts to unranked teams. Pacelli of Columbus beat OLOM 85-79 while Tattnall Square of Macon beat SACA 55-51.

5. In the only public-school upset, Lincoln County beat Randolph-Clay 87-69 on Saturday. That puts Lincoln County in a quarterfinal for the first time since 1986. It also marks the first time that the Red Devils’ boys basketball team has advanced further than their 11-time state-champion football team, which lost in the first round last fall.

GIRLS

1. At least one girls team from Gwinnett County has made the semifinals in the highest classification each season since 2000. It’s not looking good in 2016. Second-ranked Norcross, a semifinalist or better five the past six seasons, lost to unranked Westlake 39-37. Fifth-ranked Archer was routed 87-49 by third-ranked McEachern. Sixth-ranked Collins Hill lost to fourth-ranked Douglas County 53-48. Seventh-ranked Parkview must beat Douglas County on Thursday at West Georgia to keep the streak alive.

2. Winder-Barrow, a fourth-place finisher from Region 8-AAAAA, is the truest Cinderella girls team. The Bulldoggs have beaten Region 5 champion Villa Rica and eighth-ranked Carver-Columbus. This is Winder-Barrow’s first state-tournament appearance since 1994 and first advancement since 1993.

3. Region 2-AAAAA has been a disappointment. Fourth-ranked Grovetown and fifth-ranked Warner Robins, which lost only three games between them in the regular season, are out. Grovetown lost to sixth-ranked Mays 84-72, while Warner Robins went down to 10th-ranked Sequoyah 47-40.

4. Arabia Mountain, the fourth-place finisher in Region 6-AAAA, has beaten Region 7 champion Heritage-Ringgold and Burke County. A DeKalb County school that opened in 2009, Arabia Mountain had not won a state-playoff basketball game, boys or girls, until last week.

5. Jackson-Atlanta, ranked No. 3 in AAA, is a surprise only historically. The Jaguars had never won a state-playoff game until last week. Merging its history with predecessor school Southside High, Jackson’s girls program had been 0-8 in the state playoffs spanning 30 seasons.